Chapter 29
Previous Chapter Marcus spent the entire Sunday and almost the entire Monday afternoon asleep, spent from all of the events that transpired on Saturday. When he finally woke up, he was dazed from his new surroundings before remembering he was in one of Carter's safe houses. It was located somewhere in the downtown area, and the inside was somewhat bare. It was mostly just grey. Cold, metal grey. After eating, Marcus spent the rest of his time retraining himself on using his abilities. He sat in the middle of the small room and first practiced his Malicesight. He envisioned a sphere extending from his body, and he tried pushing the range as far as he could. It took a few minutes of warming up, but he eventually had his range stretched to its maximum of 40 feet. Marcus focused again, now carefully molding the sphere to change shape. He tried pushing it out to a point as far away as he could from his body, as if he was trying to sense malice from a specific direction. He could envision the rest sphere now shrinking around him, but the specific point reaching much further away than before. As he was safely hidden away, he sensed no malicous intent from any direction. After spending a good hour exercising his Malicesight, he began working on his Lifeforce. A glowing aura enveloped his right hand. Marcus took a small knife from a drawer in the safe house and made light cuts into his left hand. He pressed his glowing right palm on his injured left hand. His left hand felt hot, and after a few seconds he lifted his right hand to reveal an uninjured left hand. Marcus took his left hand now and concentrated. Wipsy trails of black seeped out like smoke, and Marcus focused the wisps to form into an orb. In an instant, small spikes erupted from the orb so that it resembled a flail head. Then, the TV that Marcus had turned on for background noise came back from break, catching his attention. He allowed the spiky ball of death to disintegrate into thin air as he listened in to the news program. The anchor, Donna Andrews, was covering a breaking news story about an incident at the museum. "Earlier today, a heist at the Grove City Museum of History and Art left four dead and several more injured." The news program cut to footage that showed an aerial view of a squad of police cars surrounding the entrance of a large, white building. Marcus froze in shock when a man in a dark cloak emerged from the white front doors. The sight of the cloak reminded him of his encounter with Onyx, who had dressed similarly to this person. Marcus took another close look. It was like Onyx's cloak, but the silhouette looked different. Actually, now that he thought about it, it reminded him of the person from the other night in the Eye of the Storm. "This was the footage taken by our aerial copter earlier this afternoon," continued Donna. "The suspect had stolen a Japanese sword on loan from the national museum in Japan. When approached by police, the suspect fired his weapon at officers and managed to escape." The man in the footage shot some sort of beam at the cars, and then small explosions of flames erupted from the police cars. Marcus continued to watch the footage until it was cut off when the person ran underneath trees and tight building alleyways where the helicopter couldn't follow. "The suspect was later apprehended by the police at the condemned Twin Points Hotel." So this was the job that Blanco had. The bastard. "However, police say that the stolen sword has not been found on the suspect, and remains missing. Casey Grant has more at the scene. Casey?" The new program cut to a peppy, blonde reporter in a maroon jacket. Marcus figured Casey Grant was in the museum, as behind her were all sorts of framed portraits and marble statues. "Thanks Donna. Eyewitnesses say that a woman in a magician's costume had returned the stolen sword to a staff member in the museum. Before anyone could ask who she was, the magician pulled a classic disappearing act and dropped a smokescreen before vanishing off. However, the museum is still reporting that the sword has been stolen. It is unknown if the magician had anything to do with the perpetrator. Now back to you, Donna." The news program cut back to the news anchor. "Police suspect another party may be involved in the theft of the sword. Stay tuned as we follow this developing news. The time is 4:06 PM." Marcus was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly missed the beeping sounds of a passcode being typed on a keypad behind the entrance. The heavy steel door opened with a mechanical hiss. "Hope you're doing alright in here," said Carter as he strode in. Marcus turned and saw that he was clutching a folder under his arm, just like how Carter first appeared at Marcus's front door. Déjà vu. Then he noticed trailing behind Carter was a young woman. "Hey," greeted Marcus. "What's the folder?" "They're plans for our next mission," said Carter. "I'll go over it in just a second. First, meet one of my agents." The young woman extended her hand. Marcus took it somewhat stiffly. "I-I'm Marcus," he said. "Marcus–" "Cato, I know. I've read up on your file," said the woman with a twinkle in her eyes. She chuckled. "I've always wanted to use that line." Marcus realized he was holding her hand a bit too long and dropped it. "Yes, well," began Carter. "What I have here are blueprints I pulled from the city archives." He walked towards the center table in the room with Marcus and Silvia trailing behind. Carter opened the folder and pulled out a couple sheets of paper. They were blueprints of a building, with each page a different floor. Marcus saw that the pages were covered in notes and scribbles. "These are the blueprints for HaleLabs," said Carter. "If what Roland said was true, then we might find a file on MERLIN in their mainframe computer. We might even find the undercover agent themselves." "So how do we break in?" asked Silvia. "We might tip the agent off if we just go in." "The first priority is going to be the files, so we're going to set a distraction," said Carter. "We'll start a controlled fire and evacuate everyone from the building. That way, we'll be able to infiltrate HaleLabs without suspicion falling on us." "What happens when we don't find any files?" asked Marcus. "That's actually where you'll come in," said Carter. "Me?" asked Marcus. "What can I do?" "Your Malicesight is going to be useful in detecting if the MERLIN agent is there," explained Carter. "Meanwhile Silvia is going to extract the files we need, and I'll be there for radio support and getaway." "Is there anyone else joining us in this assignment?" asked Silvia. "No," said Carter. "Is there someone you had in mind?" Silvia nodded. "I know someone who could be a real help..." * * * Han was sitting at his desk, typing away in a desperate effort to keep himself from thinking. If he stopped, then he would just stew in his own thoughts. He had felt that familiar sense of exhilaration when he used his gifts to stop Worth. He always felt liberated whenever he used his powers in the open, like he didn't have to hide a part of who he was. But on the other hand, he had lied to his partner about what he was doing the day he and Silvia stopped Worth, and that tore him apart in the inside. A tap on his shoulder brought Han back into reality. Shoot, he was brooding again. Han turned around and saw that it was his coworker. "Look busy, dude!" he exclaimed. "The CEO is in the building!" Han looked around and saw people frantically cleaning up their workspaces. He looked down at himself. Shoot. He chose the worst day to wear sneakers to work. All of a sudden, Han noticed the frantic and frenzy atmosphere became quiet. The CEO was here, on this floor. Han glanced at a framed picture sitting on his desk, watching the reflection on the glass. It was angled in just the right way so he could watch people coming in from the hallway. Sure enough, a woman in a black suit with an intimidating aura walked in, and the atmosphere turned icy. Helga Hale had her dark hair pulled into a French twist, revealing her strong facial features. She was accompanied by her bodyguard, who seemed to glare at everyone behind her round glasses. "G-good afternoon, Helga," greeted Han's coworker. "Good afternoon!" replied Helga. "How's work? Are you doing well, David?" "Fine!" said David slightly too loud. "I mean, it's getting into our busy season, but everyone's working hard. Han especially!" Han felt a chill go down his spine. Damnit David. He turned and saw Helga, who smiled when she saw him. She walked over towards Han, leaving David behind sighing in relief. "Ah, Han. It's nice to see you," said Helga. "And how's work for you?" "Oh, it's been good," said Han, trying to mask his nervousness. "The project's deadline is this month so I've been busy." "Oh? So you're working with one of our biggest clients!" said Helga. "That's very impressive! It's good you're getting that experience." "Oh, thank you," said Han, swelling on the inside. "Well keep up the good work," said Helga, who turned to leave. "Oh, and Han?" "Yes?" "Those shoes aren't dress code, " said Helga with a smile as she left the room with her bodyguard, with David escorting them out. Han sank back into his chair, his previous good mood deflating. "Oh, Han?" Han's head perked up to the sound of David's voice. "Yeah?" Han asked. "I need your help to get a few files for the client. They're at HaleLabs, can you get them for me? Since it's on the way for you?" "Yeah, that's fine," agreed Han. "I need them by the end of the week," said David, waving as he left the room. Han relaxed back into his chair, his mind busy with scheduling the rest of his week. He glanced down at his phone, and then he felt his stomach do flips when he saw a message from a familiar number. Next Chapter